


Uh... okay

by highlyrelevantnumber (Leonora_Acker)



Series: HL x POI x BoL One-shots [1]
Category: Homeland, Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Gen, Roger Ferris from Body of Lies is mentioned, alternate version of a scene, major warning for sass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:08:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23043742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonora_Acker/pseuds/highlyrelevantnumber
Summary: Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you.A scene from Homeland S6E7 “Imminent Risk”, retold.
Series: HL x POI x BoL One-shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669003
Comments: 13
Kudos: 5





	Uh... okay

**Author's Note:**

> If there's one thing Homeland writers are superb at, it's writing tragicomic situations. So the idea was there, I just pushed it to the extreme.

Somehow, Quinn had managed to sneak past Astrid. Root scoffed. _Of course he had._ He must have figured out where they hid his medications– at the bottom of the second to last drawer in the unused room upstairs– and given Astrid a sleeping pill. The German intelligence officer was asleep when Root arrived at the cabin and was still out cold when the hacker left. So Root had gone to find the missing injured former black ops operative. As for catching him... using guns was out of the question– and, even if she was _this_ trigger happy, there was no point in doing so given Quinn's current state. Tasing him was strictly forbidden, so that left only one option: giving him a sedative shot, which was allowed under very specific conditions. Root wondered whether using the third one in two weeks counted as what Roger had described as “giving him too many”. She spotted Quinn on the edge of the treeline, quite far away from the cabin, near the country road.

The Machine had been the one to alert Root. There were two cameras providing view of the inside of the cabin as well as the immediate surroundings: the one was in the living room, where Quinn spent most of his time with whomever was taking care of him on a particular day, while the second camera had been installed in the back of the house facing the woods. Quinn must have figured that out too (because how stupid would a spy have to be in order not to?) and, as a result, had taken great care to avoid both cameras. However, the single most important factor he'd failed to take into consideration was that the Machine was incredibly good at identifying patterns as well as disruption in patterns. She had noticed Astrid had been sleeping for too long and She hadn't caught sight of Quinn since his companion fell asleep. She had called Root and so the hunt had begun...

Having spotted him, Root parked the car and went to meet him. "Quinn." She sounded relieved and a little breathless, like she'd been running instead of driving. She seemed genuinely worried, but Quinn didn't want to believe that. "What are you doing out here?"

"What does it look to you or the Machine like I'm doing?" he snapped. Root thought he was more than a little bitter about the Machine ruining his careful planning. He didn't need any deductive skills to understand who was behind this– Root coming to the rescue was a telltale sign.

"Trying to catch pneumonia?" Root offered an equally harsh comeback, her tone deadpan, with a hint of scorn. "Come on, get in the car before you turn into an ice statue."

"No!" he fiercely protested. He limped past her. "I have to get back to New York."

Root was, at this point, seriously contemplating giving him that third injection, stuffing him in the car, and zip-tying him in a chair at the cabin upon arrival. She tilted her head, listening to what the Machine had to say. She must have guessed Root's thoughts because She was insisting that the hacker be gentle and avoid violence or emotional abuse. Root was about to argue when she noticed how far Peter had managed to get and ran after him, grabbing his upper arm. "You can't go back," she said with finality, "you'd be breaking the terms of the deal."

He turned to look at her like she hadn't explained the exact situation a million times already, but at least she had his attention now. "What deal?" The question was asked in a tone of complete distrust and confusion, as if he were suspicious “the deal” might be a trap Root had set up for him.

Root's voice while replying had an undercurrent of resignation to it, as if she didn't like the deal at all but wasn't actually able to do anything about it. "The deal the Machine made. With Dar Adal." She took a couple of tentative steps towards him. "She promised Her assets would stay out of his operations and he agreed the CIA wouldn't come after you on condition that you stay here, out of the public eye."

Root, Quinn noticed, sounded angry. At the Machine who was once again sacrificing herself for its human assets, who– especially in his case– were broken hardware? At not being able to kill Dar Adal for being such a jerk? At him for ignoring the Machine's warnings not to go after Haqqani and getting himself hurt? He had no idea. Her touch brought him back to the present. Root had placed her hand on his arm, experimentally.

"Right now, you're an important national security asset. Breaking the deal automatically makes you a national security risk." Quinn slapped her hand off of him and Root couldn't help but remark how terribly off his muscle coordination was. Maybe she wouldn't be told off by the Machine for taking advantage of that? "Do I look like a fff-freaking risk to you?"

Root's tone was slightly patronizing. "Quinn, you shot a civilian. With a handgun. From distance."

He laughed, mocking her. It was the weakest argument and she knew it. She was going to have a chat with the Machine later about suggesting that she play by this card. "That's funny coming from someone like you, _Root_. How many more _civilians_ until you become a risk too?"

"At least, I'm careful," Root answered quickly. And, gritting her teeth, she added: "I kneecap only the _bad_ guys and _only_ when I have a reason." It didn't take his stroked-out brain a lot of effort, he mused, to figure out she was only parroting the Machine's words since Root enjoyed using her twin pistols a little too much and was clearly unhappy with what she had to say. He almost pitied her. It must have shown because he saw her eyes darken and an intimidating grin spread across her lips.

Root was now debating whether it was worth it going against Ferris' explicit orders and risking his wrath, Carrie attempting to strangle her for touching her boyfriend as well as earning herself a lecture from Reese and Shaw. Although the part involving Shaw did have potential.

Distracted as she was in her own thoughts, she didn't notice a car approaching. Quinn stopped it. "Can I get a ride into town?" he asked the driver.

"Sure, hop in," the driver replied.

The Machine screaming in her ear that Quinn was about to jump headfirst into trouble brought Root back to the present. She jogged a few steps, nearly slamming the door of the passing car closed. There was an undercurrent of panic to her voice, which Quinn was having difficulty determining whether was to make her performance authentic or because of her fear for his safety. "Whoa, sir. You don't wanna do this, trust me. My little brother's not well."

"What!? She's lying! I'm not her brother! Why are you lying?"

"I'm really sorry for the inconvenience, sir. He's off his meds. Continue on your way and I will take care of him."

"She's a hacker! With a direct line to an Art-Artificial Intelligence!"

Quinn couldn't have dug a better hole for himself even if she'd asked him to. Root tried very hard to keep the smug expression off her face.

The driver's eyes darted between them. He appeared to be shocked and confused. "Uh... okay."

Her point having been made, Root flashed the perplexed driver a genuinely apologetic smile.

 _Well_ , Root thought as the car drove off, Quinn trailing behind, his limping slowing him down until it eventually forced him to come to a halt, screaming for help, _just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you_.

**Author's Note:**

> More one-shots set in this universe are currently in production stage. Stay tuned!


End file.
